New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1887-04-13
Fare on d Sailing Ship !.

Perhaps some of the young ad.
mirers of a "Life on the ocean wave
would like to know how they fare
aboard ship. There is no mothers
pantry to visit. Each sailor furnish.
es his own tin plate, coffee cup and
knife and fork. He has no table, with
chairs placed for his convenience.
When grub is ready to be served the
cook gives the signal. A sailor comes
and receives a pan of bread; another
takes a. pan of beef, the third takes
the large coffee pot, with hash OF
potatoes as the cook chooses. The
bill of fare is fixed by law. At the be.
ginning OF the voyage the captain calls
his crew aft and inquiries if there are
any who wish to have their food
weighed. They always prefer to eat
as much as they can 'stow away"
The sailors eat in the forecastle. Il
they are disposed, they can rig them,
selves a table; otherwise they must
sit around on trunks or the deck in
rough weather and take their rations,
The officers eat with the captain in
the cabin, where a table is set and
furnished the same as at home A
rack is used in rough weather to keen
the dishes from dancing. If there is
good cook on board, verything goes
we'll; but an unskilled cook makes all
hands miserable.
During extremely cold weather pas.
sengers do not attempt to sit at the
table, but take whatever they require
IN their hands and eat the best way
they can. One day sailor was eat.
ing his rations during rough weather,
when the ship gave sudden
lurch and a piece of beef went gallop.
ing across the deck. The sailor raised
his fork, and making a dash for the
beef, shouted: "Stop that horse!' The
sailors call their beef ''salt horse"
The story which they tell is this: One
voyage, when the beef was particular.
ly tough, q horseshoe was found at the
bottom Of the beef barrel, whereupon
one Of the sailors got up the following
rhyme:
"Old horse, old horse, what brought you
"From Saccarap to Portland pier,
was dragging lumber for many year.
| was kicked and cuffed with sore abuse
And salted down for sailors use
Between the mainmast and the pumps
I was sailed down in great big chunks;
Whey hauled me out and picked my bones,
They hove me over to Davy Jones'"
= The captain OF a sailing ship was
rsked by his wife if she couldn't give
the sailors a good dinner He replied
hat he was afraid it would make
them saucy. She finally prevailed. A
fine turkey was procured from shore
and given to the cook, who served it
up in good order and gave it to the
sailors. One gave q scrutinlzing look
and exclaimed "What is that old
bird doing here?" Another said: 81
wonder how old it is? Must have
died OF old age" The third remarked
that if it had been good for anything
they would have kept it in the cabin
They finally hove it overheard and
made dinner of "salt horse" The
captains wife, after that, never med
died with her husbands housekeeping
Sometimes a. dolphin is caught, and,
as you watch the dying colors Of blue
and gold, as he writhes upon the deck,
visions OF savory chowder and fresh
fried fish pass before you.
With what an Important air the
cook comes into the cabin and asks
fora piece of silver, which he puts into
the frying pan with the sputtering fish
If the silver turns black he considers
the fish to have been poisoned. He
says they sometimes eat the copper
from the bottom Of a. ship or from
copper banks. How anxiously we
await the test, those on shore, whose
thoughts are filled with politics, the
temperance question and divorce
cases can never know. The
silver is usually found to be
light and shining, and the luxury OF a
fresh fish dinner is enjoyed with un.
adulterated happiness. Often a por.
poise is harpooned and then there is
great excitement. The liver and heart
tastes similar to those of hog, but
one must be exceedingly hungry to en-
JOY the meat. 1t has one virtue, that
OF being fresh. The oil is usually saved,
being quite valuable. That found in
the head is much esteemed for .oiline
clocks, etc. When a Spanish macker-
al Is caught a savOry dinner may be
expected.
Sometimes thousands of flying fish
ship, and spreading their gauze wings,
fly for a few seconds above water,
while we are tempted to- exclaim:
Fish, fish all around,
And NOT one mouthful to eat!
For, although they are most delicate
eating, it is impossible to catch them
at sea- Often during the night one
flies on b<sara, and the cook serves it
up for the most favored person on
board. On the island of Barbados
the fishermen are very successful in
catching these fish, and meal of bon
ed flying fish lsworth eating.
During severe storms the cook has
many trials trying to serve his meals
In carrying the dinner from the galley
to the cabin he ;issometimes struck by
q heavy sea, and the basket washed
from his grasp, the dinner and dishes